So to the happy days.

Before I start, I will only say that my profile has the stool that I made over the 4 years of woodwork.
Now in July 1952 I was to start on a new career, earning money fir myself and eventually gaining independence. School days were certainly not the happiest days of my life. To be honest, thers next few years were, with the exeption of National Service ehich was a disgrace regarding humanity. The total disregard for civility or any sort of compassion was unbelievable. The NCOs were nothing more than bullies. I will not dwell much on Army life, but I will say this, once you finished basic training and went to your posting then things improved.
Back to my leaving school ad starting on the Railway. The first week it was turn up at 8.00am clock on. We were about 24 of us 15 year olds. I knew nobody as I went to the Secondary School and all the other lads had been to the new Comprehensive School. It did not take lond for me to integrate. We had to clock off at noon for 30 minutes meal break, clock on again at 12.30pm then clock off at 4.30pm. That was the days time. We were taught to clean steam engines. This sonn altered though. Towards the end of the first week we were split up into 2 gangs of 12 The first gang was to report for duty on the following Monday at 6.00am and at 10.am clocked off for 30 minutes meal break then finished our shift at 2.30pm. This was from Monday to Friday. On Saturday we clocked on at 6.00am and finished work at 10.00am. Thus completing 44 hours which was the normal hours to be worked each week. The following week the 2 gangs swapped and we clocked on at 1.30pm had a break of 30 minutes at 5.30 then clocked off at 10.00pm again Monday to Friday. On Saturday we clocked on at 10.00am until 2.00pm. Thus completing the 44 hours. The rule was that you could not go to work unless you had 12 hours rest between your last shift and the next shift.
One of the disadvantages was that we all had to go throught a sort of initiation, that was have your trousers taken down and your genitals greased liberally with oil. This happened on a few occasions as there were 3 shifts but as 15 year old cleaners we were onlt allowed to work until 10.00pm in the evening and not before 6.00am in the morning. For the 44 hours work, we had the princely sum of £2.16s less N.I so we earned 2.11s 9d in todays terms about £2.58p. My mother took off me £1.50 board another 50p for clothing which she saved for me and I was allowed to keep the 58p. To put it in perspective. Players cigarettes were about 23p for 20 so you can see that we were still very poor. Everybody was broke come Thursday. Friday being payday. We collected our wages every week at the Railway paybox. It was always cash. but sealed of course with a proper payslip.
It was about after me being there for 5 weeks or so that I was informed that I was to be moved to the office as I was too intelligent to be a cleaner. What they really meant was the office boy had given his notice in and they thought I would go willingly to fill his position. How wrong they were. I fought like mad and after several attempts to get me to work there permanently they finally gave in and I was once again out with my cleaner friends and happy.
I should have told you this from a start. When you started on the Railway, you was issued with 2 pairs of bib and brace and 2 pairs of Jackets. When you was passed out as a fireman(passed cleaner) you was then issued with an overcoat or a reefer jacket or a mackintosh, plus a serge jacket every 2 years in addition to your overalls. As the years went by you seemed to be more careful with the use of your overalls so they managed to last a lot longer than a year. I still have a complete set of overalls a serge jacket and an overcoat(lambing gown that is what they were called as they were thick and heavy). I use my overalls even today. Yes I can still get into them after 50 years. I am proud to tell everybody that piece of information.
There were so many characters on the Railway. There was a guy who was in his late 30s but he always used the cleaners mess room. He had failed his eyesight several years before so he was a boiler washer, labourer really. He made out that he was a hard bully. When he walked in he woulf sneer and get his snap tin. This was an old Oxo tin, his tea tin which was an old Colemans Mustard tin and his milk bottle, which was an old Heinz Ketchup bottle. Yes we all used things like that. He would put his things on the end of the table, then threaten to break anybody's arm if the touched them. Well there would always be one of the lads who would have no milk so mash his tea at the break so he would steal some of this fellows milk then top it up with water. This was alright if only one did it, sometimes more than one would. When the guy came in to make his tea, of course it was so strong, he would play hell and get angry throw it away and then rant on about he kept telling his wife not to put so much tea in the mashing. He would on the other hand notice if someone was not eating. He would insist that they had his because he knew what it was like to go without when you was young. He knew that sometimes there was no food to take to work somedays. He really was a pussy cat and everybody got to like him although he still pretended to be a bully. Incidentally his father was a Driver and he was just the opposite. He was a very nervous man, likeable though. Next time I shall start to begin to talk about the times following the steam engine cleaning era. The happy days.